BEA Releases State Income Changes Q2 2016. All States Show Growth for First Time Since 2014.

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released its figures of changes in state income for the second quarter of 2016. The aggregate change of income for all U.S. states was an increase of 1.0% over the first quarter of 2016. All fifty states saw personal income growth in the second quarter, which has not occurred since Q4 of 2014.

The release shows how much a state’s income has risen or fallen in the second quarter of 2016. The BEA measures state income as the sum of net earnings by place of residence, property income, and personal current transfer receipts. Net earnings are wages, salaries, and current benefits like employer provided healthcare. Property income includes rental income, but also stock dividends and other interest income. Current transfer receipts include any benefits received from Federal, state, or local government, as well as private pensions.

It is always interesting to look for any regional patterns of growth. The Rocky Mountain region is slightly ahead of the rest of the pack, but the percentage increases in regional incomes are stacked rather closely together, reflecting the across the board growth we see this quarter.

The map below, provided by the BEA, reflects the broad growth pattern. One can see clusters of the highest growth occurring in the western states of Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona, as well as the plains states of Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas. Indeed, Utah saw the greatest growth in Q2, with income growing 1.4%. Alaska saw the slowest growth, still growing at 0.4%.

State Income Changes Q2 2016

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It is important to note that this report does not include the wage-growth numbers commonly reported by the media. Those numbers are collected and reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the focus is specifically on wage earners. The report on income from the Bureau of Economic Analysis takes a much broader look at income overall. Access to the BEA’s full data on state income changes Q2 2016 can be found here.

All data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis

by Jeffrey L Garceau